FREE Email Newsletter

Daily news and top headlines for food manufacturing professionals

Meat companies have tried to rehabilitate an image tarnished in recent years by health and environmental concerns. Now the industry is aggressively working to discredit a proposal for new dietary guidelines that recommends people eat less red and processed meat.

Workers who quit typically do so to take higher-paying jobs. That's why rising numbers of quits typically signal confidence in the economy and the job market. As the trend takes hold, employers are often forced to offer higher pay to hold on to their staffers or attract new ones.

A federal judge on Tuesday said she would consider delaying proceedings for a lawsuit challenging Maui's ban on the cultivation of genetically modified organisms because of legislation that could affect the outcome of the case.

The FBI is investigating an apparent attempt to firebomb a fast-food restaurant in Reno where authorities reported a window was broken, a flammable liquid found inside and the initials of an animal rights group scrawled on a drive-thru sign.

San Francisco-based Del Monte Foods, Inc., producer of branded and private label canned fruit, vegetable, and tomato products, announced that it has completed the acquisition of the assets of Sager Creek Vegetable Company, a producer of specialty vegetables for the Foodservice and Retail markets headquartered in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Efforts to add Colorado to the list of states with restrictions on powdered alcohol ran aground in the state Legislature last week. Six states enacted regulations regarding the product, known as Palcohol, as of late 2014 even though it hasn't yet received approval from the federal government.

The Missouri Department of Agriculture said that avian influenza has been found at a facility in central Missouri's Moniteau County that houses 21,000 turkeys. On Sunday, the state also said bird flu had been confirmed at a turkey farm in Jasper County.

ConAgra announced Friday that it will close the plant in July, leaving 250 employees out of work. ConAgra spokesman Dan Hare said the chicken-making operations at the plant will be moved to improve efficiency and competitiveness.

When the tsunami warning sounded, workers at the two-centuries-old soy sauce maker in northeastern Japan ran up a nearby hill to a shrine for safety, and watched in disbelief as towering waters swallowed their factory.

The tenth annual Power of Meat report looks at meat and poultry trends through the shopper’s eyes and examined health and wellness trends for the first time. It found that 79 percent of shoppers put some or a lot of effort into making sure they make nutritious and balanced meat and poultry choices.

An anonymous blackmailer threatened to poison infant formula in New Zealand to protest the country's use of poisonous baits for pest control, and sent dairy giant Fonterra packets of milk powder laced with pesticide.

The Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) has issued comprehensive and science-based protocols to help ensure the continued safe use of reusable plastic containers (RPCs) for fresh and perishable products in the supply chain. The guidelines encompass the washing, handling, storing, packing, displaying, and collecting of RPCs in the supply chain.

According to Ethisphere, an independent research center promoting best practices in corporate ethics and governance, honorees understand the impact ethics has on reputation and their brand. Companies on the list not only promote ethical business standards and practices internally, they exceed legal compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best practices.